Into Dusk
by m3thod-mak3r
Summary: OneShot: The lingering will of a shopkeeper experiences the limitations of being a Nobody, particularly a lesser Dusk.


cough No, not the usual sap I turn out.

Remember, oneshots love favs and reviews too. nudge

She was Legion now. Once, there was Viktoria Szalkowski, a humble shopkeeper from Hollow Bastion with a husband and two little girls who clamored for sweets at her skirt. As Kingdom Hearts represented a whole worlds' worth of souls, the family had its own little collective heart; a warmth passed between them with little words and gestures. It was not a wild, destined romance Viktoria and her husband shared, but a deep and mutual love which the couple held dear between them. Homey, conservative and they prayed, eternal.

Heartless still frequented the streets, midnight boogiemen that were puppets not of their desire for fear but rather more instinctive, inbred passion for feed. Mindless terrors scuttling the alleyways occasionally tripped up by the clever town defense system. Sometimes, during thick nights when evil seemed more pervasive that usual, the Heartless could overwhelm the relatively weak security and attack the townspeople, necessitating the presence of human defenders, namely Leon and Yuffie. Despite the pair's game efforts, Heartless still slipped by occasionally, base intent driving them toward the glowing homes of Hollow Bastion residents.

On one such night, the creeping nightmares visited Viktoria Szalkowski's home and swallowed everything. In her slumber, profound and deep from a busy day, Viktoria did not hear the Heartless' stealthy intrusion into her bedroom. Her husband also slept, unaware until a sense of emptiness troubled his secret dreams and woke him. Within the swill of ebony around him, he saw pale yellow eyes, blank as headlights attacking a deer, and he did not have time to scream before the Heartless whittled into him and stole his heart. Feeling the bed grow suddenly cold beside her, Viktoria woke and saw the thing which replaced her husband and the attending poppet of a creature which ate his essential self. She tried to bat the things away, the darkness of her husband's heart incarnate and its fellow, but the Heartless were insubstantial, immune to her frenzied attacks. Before she could even shout and awake her children, her heart was also stolen. The three Heartless then oozed upstairs to feast on the particularly sweet, pure hearts of the little girls.

In a world between light and dark, an unintended, lost place, a Nobody came into nonexistence. Marginally strong in will, Viktoria produced a Dusk, quicksilver and twisting towards the masters of things which should not be…

--

The World that Never Was. A profoundly empty place, shrouded in echoes and devoid of all dreams, save one; the omnipotent heart-shaped moon which hung above the Dark City, its weak glow unable to shift the ever-present gloom. Lesser Nobodies gathered here, swirling about the streets in restless clouds or cowering before their black-booted masters. The Organization, as a whole, showed nothing but contempt for the slithery creatures which served them, particularly the Dusks, which were too weak for anything more than massive suicide missions. Becoming a Dusk was considered the highest punishment, ranking above even execution; a servile nonexistence, barely sentient, flopping through the streets with obscene limberness.

Physically, what remained of Viktoria had no gender, but the will that remained and the voice with which it spoke was female. In spite of the degraded, twisted form it took, this will clung to its meager strength. Sometimes, it forgot the pronoun 'I' and slumped into the stupor of groupthink, transferring the Organization's commands to action without contemplation. However, eventually Viktoria's will would reassert itself and though it dared not refute the directives of the Superior, it could consider them. It could learn. On a cognitive level, it was disgusted by its insurmountable weakness and loathsome form. The Organization, closer to reality than the other Nobodies, seemed ready-made vessels for new hearts. Viktoria's will thought that it and the rest of the Dusks were so far from humanity that they could never share in the Organization's triumph, should it be achieved.

One day, a large member of Organization 13 came down from the castle, forbidden to lesser Nobodies, to walk the lonesome streets of his world. His features were not gentle and sculpted like most of his associates, but he did not kick at the cowering Nobodies as he passed. Sympathy was a feeling inaccessible to any Nobody, but if he could emote, Viktoria's will imagined he might express it toward the creatures which waved their rubbery limbs at him as he passed. What remained of Viktoria approached him cautiously, trying to limit its naturally writhing movement out of respect for the higher-ranking non-being. _Master Lexaeus, forgive my impudence. I have a simple query in relation to your mission of attaining hearts for the Nobodies. Is it possible that we, the lesser servants, might benefit if a technique is discovered which restores hearts?_ It thought that Lexaeus would destroy it for dishonor then, send the form and will away and continue his walk untroubled be the demise of such a useless creature. Instead, Lexaeus looked to the sky, at the heart suspended above him in a night of naught. "I do not know what Xemnas intends, and as you know, his will is law. However, I can promise to intercede on your behalf. Obedience should have its rewards as well, I think."

The Dusk could experience hope only as a matrix of favorable schematics, but that was enough for now. Inclining its hooded head, the Dusk conveyed _Thank you my liege. I am humbled by your response._ Lexaeus considered the slithery, flexible creature at his feet and asked, "Do you have a name?" _Legion._ Responded the Dusk with a thousand voices. "I need something to call you, specifically. Will 'X' do?" Lexaeus asked. Flattered by the Organization member's politeness in spite of its station and appearance, Viktoria's will agreed to come when called by that title. Then Lexaeus returned to the Castle, his thick, plodding footsteps pounding like an ironic heartbeat against the pristine streets of the Dark City.

Lexaeus called for Viktoria's will frequently, summoning it for strolls around the streets teaming with false life. On these occasions, the Dusk would try its best to walk in a normal fashion, limiting its mobility to traditional humanoid joints to only limited success. It still appeared as what it was: a mockery of the human form. The Dusk and Lexaeus discussed the philosophical implications of their situations. Nobodies could act in both good and evil ways, but to what end? If a creature of Naught created ripples of good or evil despite its nonexistence, was it truly insubstantial or, like a black hole, did the light bending around it prove its presence? Was there an afterlife for nothings or did they simply fade as the universe reset around them, pleased to see the abomination of a life force and will without a heart disappear? Most importantly, the pair speculated about how gaining hearts would affect their existence. Lexaeus thought he would receive a heart all his own, not becoming Aeleus again but rather a new, compete being with the memories and motivations of his Nobody self still intact. Viktoria's will was of the opinion that reintroducing hearts into the mix of will and life would reanimate the dead person and swallow the consciousness of the Nobody.

"Even for a Dusk you have such grim views X. Either we fade into obscurity when killed or we surrender our wills to the dead. You truly believe that there is no hope for us to….become?" Lexaeus asked it under the glow of a flickering advertisement. Only the Superior knew why such advertisements existed- perhaps to create the illusion of reality within the city. _That is the flaw of you Organization members. Most of you forget that there is no 'us'. You and I are but fragments of already existing creatures, not a newborns striving for wholeness. If you take a puzzle as an example, each individual piece has its own unique properties and perceptions, if you will allow me to anthropomorphize briefly. However, these separate bits can never equal the whole picture. You and the Organization want to build a new puzzle around a single piece._

Lexaeus shook his large, boxy head slowly, his thin skin scarcely concealing the form of his skull. "I want you to be wrong X. I don't know how you can calmly accept the imminence of your disappearance." _It is hard for a creature like myself to cultivate an ego, my liege. I see myself not as incomplete, but as a portion. Should we attain our hearts, I will lose myself yes, but I'll be going into something greater. A human._ The Dusk bobbed and darted, briefly losing itself to its mindless, obedient frenzy before regaining its intellectual will. Lexaeus stared out over the dark skyline, black buildings against black heavens. "If the other members understood…they would surely abandon our cause. Axel especially. And some others. I think I would too, if I fully believed you. Hope guards me from despairing." _We can't hope or despair. We can merely observe, calculate, and act, like single cell creatures. _The Dusk replied, writhing slightly midair. "Something causes disparities in perceptions though. You know as well as I do that the Organization does not always agree with itself." Lexaeus pointed out as he stood stiff as stone. _Merely a difference in wills, perhaps in intellect. The two are separate after all. And you Organization members, forgive my impudence, presume to be much closer to humanity than we lesser things. We who understand our position work as one, and do not become attached to our consciousness. You see very little infighting among the weakest Nobodies, those with the weakest wills. It would make sense that those with the strongest would occasionally oppose one another. _Said the observant Dusk. "If only your will in life was stronger. Vexen would admire your empirical outlook." Lexaeus commented. It was the closest he came to jest. The two stood in silence for awhile, watching the grey, white and purple throngs surge around the city while waiting for their Superior's call.

"You know I've been selected for the Castle Oblivion mission. I leave very soon." Lexaeus said finally. _I've heard, yes. The Superior did not see fit to include me in the roster of attendants there._ Viktoria's will added, not looking at Lexaeus. _I wish you luck my liege. For the sake of the Organization._ Clever, quiet Lexaeus looked down at the Dusk standing beside him, trying to check its gruesome movements for the sake of…vanity? "Call me Lexaeus please." He said. _Lexaeus. I wish you greatest success._ The Dusk said, and the two parted ways.

Lexaeus was killed at Castle Oblivion. When Viktoria's will received the news, it slipped into the collective for a long, long time.

--

One day, Viktoria's will reasserted itself with a snap. Something was happening about the morbid streets of Dark City. The Kingdom Hearts above the world, the Superior's pet project and final hope for reality, was dissolving into shimmering, individual hearts. Like shooting starts, the hearts twinkled toward the city, brilliant and strange to the Nobodies below, so accustomed to darkness. Sensing the presence on the long-desired hearts, the Nobodies flailed their arms in one last mindless attempt to gain one for themselves; the one thing they wanted, that they ever wanted. The Dusk, once Viktoria Szalkowski, also raised its arms to the falling points of light, still a slave to instinct but aware of the futility of its effort. The hearts faded out, assumed into some brighter eternity, while the Dusks below, still dancing and flexing in the repulsive way of their kind, were extinguished one by one, empty, always empty, as they watched the hearts pass through their thin, bound fingers.


End file.
